White Wedding
by Angry Hermione
Summary: Harry awakens later than he intended on his wedding day. Dobby acts strange, the twins pull their pranks, and Ron bails as his best man. Can this day be saved? HHr Please R


Harry awoke in his room at Grimmauld Place. He put his glasses on, glanced at his clock and sat up in alarm.

'_Ten thirty! Oh, no! I can't be late for my own wedding!'_

He threw the covers off himself and called out to the room, "Dobby!"

With a small pop, the little house elf appeared in the room and greeted Harry cheerfully, "Good morning, master sir!" Then Dobby added, with barely noticeable reluctance, "Is master feeling better today?"

Harry puzzled over the question for a moment, "Dobby, you know I wasn't drinking at my bachelor party last night, although Ron's probably nursing a fair sized head this morning. Is he up yet? If not you had better go wake up my best man, and it's likely he'll need a pepper-up potion."

Dobby's ears drooped as the smile dropped from his face. He looked at the floor and answered, "Master Weezy is in the kitchen, sir. Dobby is making him breakfast. Is Harry Potter wanting breakfast, sir?"

"No," Harry answered, "I'm a bit too nervous to eat, and I really don't have the time, I only have an hour to get ready. Could you set out my formal robes for me while I take a shower?"

"Yes, sir." Replied Dobby morosely.

Harry briefly wondered what was wrong with the little elf as he stepped into the bathroom. He showered quickly then, to save time, performed a drying charm on himself. In an attempt to tame his naturally scruffy hair, he grabbed his comb and looked into the mirror.

The reflection that greeted him made him step back in shock. It wasn't the reflection of a nineteen-year-old Harry, but one that looked as if he were in his late-twenties. His hair was long and dull, his eyes appeared to be sunken and bloodshot, and his skin was pale and drawn, looking almost skeletal.

He closed his eyes for a moment, not believing what he had just seen. He opened them again and looked into the mirror. There it was, the smiling face, the bright eyes, the short messy hair…

'_Fred and George! One of their joke mirrors, no doubt…'_

He smiled as he made a mental note to 'thank' the twins for their little prank. He finished up then left the bathroom and hurriedly dressed himself in the formal robes that Dobby had laid out for him. As he reached for his wand on the writing desk, he saw the moving photograph of his fiancé that was taken on the day he proposed to her just a few months before. He couldn't help but to smile as Hermione beamed at him from the picture and blew him a kiss.

'_In just a few short hours, she will no longer be Hermione Granger, but Mrs. Hermione Potter.'_ He thought to himself as his grin widened.

He leapt down the stairs two at a time and almost skipped to the kitchen. He entered the kitchen and his smile suddenly disappeared as he saw Ron sitting at the table reading the morning paper _in his boxers!_

"Ron!" yelled Harry, causing his redheaded friend to jump in his seat, "It's after eleven, mate, and you need to get dressed! You know the wedding's at noon and you're the best man!"

Ron visibly stiffened at the sound of Harry's voice, but didn't move.

Harry looked around the room and asked, "Where are the Twins? They should be here by now."

"The twins are gone, Harry." Said Ron, not looking up from the paper that he obviously wasn't reading anymore. His eyes were closed.

"Oh," said Harry, "They're already at Hogwarts? Isn't that a bit dangerous, leaving them on their own? I mean, who knows what they're up to, you know how they get, especially at wed…"

Ron slammed the paper down on the table and charged out of the room. Harry watched him storm down the hall to the stairs leading to the upper floors. He couldn't read the look that was on Ron's face, but it almost seemed like he was about to burst into tears. Slowly, Harry made his way up the stairs. He was about to climb the steps to the third floor bedrooms when he heard Ron's voice coming from the study. Harry stood in the hall beside the doorway and listened.

"…I know, Remus, I know I said that I could, but I can't do it today, I just can't. I thought I could handle it, but after all these years… Can't you do it for me, just today?"

Ron's voice sounded strained as he spoke. Harry knew that Ron had fancied Hermione at one time, but he honestly believed he had gotten over them being together. He had no idea that the thought of him getting married to Hermione would affect Ron like _this_.

Harry heard Remus's voice crackle through from the other end of the floo, "Okay," sighed Remus, "I'll be right there, make yourself scarce."

"Thanks, I'll make it up to you next week, it's your turn then, isn't it?"

At hearing that last bit, Harry wondered to himself, _''it's his turn?' Remus is getting married next week? Why didn't anyone tell me?'_

"Yes, but you had better get going now." Answered Remus.

Harry was about to enter the study and try to reason with his best man, but before he could utter a word, Ron spun on the spot and disapparated, causing Harry to jump in surprise. The last Harry knew, the wards around the house prevented apparation. When had that changed? The next moment, he heard the crack of apparation coming from the entrance hall and heard Remus calling to him.

"Hi, Remus, I guess you're going to be my best man today?" He saw that Remus was wearing a plain brown suit under his plain brown robes. Harry wasn't going to complain about his appearance, after all, it was short notice… but he did briefly wonder why he wasn't with all the other wedding guests who were surely already at Hogwarts. How had Ron contacted him through the floo so quickly, anyway? Harry shrugged off the thoughts as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "So, how do I look? Do you think she'll like what she sees?"

Remus just looked at Harry and sadly nodded. Harry hardly noticed that he was holding a small bouquet of flowers in one hand and a heavy winter cloak in the other.

Seeing the worried expression on Remus's face, Harry continued, "I overheard Ron talking to you in the study. I'm surprised by his reaction to the wedding, but I understand how he feels. I'm not mad at him."

"Well, let's get this over with for today. I'll meet you at the Hogwarts Gate." Said Remus before disapparating from the entrance hall.

Harry appeared with a loud crack just outside of the Hogwarts wards near the main gate.

"Bloody Hell, Remus, what's going on!" roared Harry as he found himself standing in knee-deep snow. Icy gusts of wind carried the falling snowflakes into his face, nearly blinding him. He could barely see Remus, who had donned his winter cloak, trudging through the gates towards the castle. Harry stumbled through the deep snow to catch up with him.

"What's going on?" yelled Harry over the howling wind, "_WHY_ is it snowing in the middle of August? Is this another of the twins' tricks? 'Weasley's Winter White-Out' or something?" Harry had no doubt in his mind that the twins would think this 'white wedding' would be incredibly funny.

Remus didn't answer him. He just continued stomping purposefully through the snow, not towards the castle as Harry first thought, but towards the lake where Dumbledore's tomb was.

Harry looked around in confusion as he followed behind Remus_. 'It's August fourteenth! If it's not the twins, then why is it snowing? What are they playing at? Where is everyone?'_

They approached Dumbledore's large white tomb, and Harry saw that a huge wall had been erected beside it. Remus walked up to the wall and beckoned Harry to approach. The wall was about three meters high and ten meters across. It appeared blank due to the thick coating of wet snow that the wind had carried onto it. Remus glanced at Harry from beneath his hood and sighed. He drew his wand and swept it across in front of the wall, causing the caked on snow to melt away, revealing the words underneath.

Along the top of the wall, in large, gold embossed letters were the simple words:

_In memory of the fallen heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts – 14 August, 1999_

Harry shook his head in disbelief. He stared at the date on the wall, _today's date._ Below those words were a vast number of names, in the same gold-embossed lettering, in alphabetical order. He felt a large lump suddenly appear in his throat as he turned to Remus, who was standing silently beside him.

"Tell me this is some kind of sick joke, Remus, please tell me."

Remus turned his head and looked away.

With a broken voice, Harry asked, "What's today's date?"

"February 22nd…" he paused, took a deep breath and finished, "2008."

Harry walked along the wall, looking for a name, a name he somehow knew would be there, although every fiber of his soul was praying it wasn't. As he scanned the wall he saw many familiar names, too many familiar names.

His eyes stopped moving. He fell to his knees, wracked with despair. He could actually hear his heart shatter, just as he had heard it shatter every day for the past eight and a half years. There, in gilded letters, was her name, _-HERMIONE JANE GRANGER-_

His eyes widened as the memories came rampaging through his head. He remembered seeing the throngs of guests seated on the front lawn of the castle. He recalled how beautiful she was as she slowly walked with her father towards the platform where he was waiting, how she beamed at him as he stood transfixed, marveling at her radiance.

He recalled those hated words that were shouted by the disillusioned Bellatrix Lestrange, the green flash that struck Hermione in the back and the surprised look on his bride's face as her lifeless form fell forward onto the ground. He could almost hear the trees of the Forbidden Forest snapping like twigs as the horde of giants attacked. He remembered the dark swarm of dementors gliding across the lake and hundreds of Death Eaters that had apparated in the fields just outside of the Hogwarts wards.

He remembered the blood… _so much blood…_

His anguished cry carried across the frozen lake, echoed through the dead, burned-out trees of the Forbidden Forest, vibrated through the empty halls of the now abandoned castle. He collapsed face first into the snow. Remus laid the flowers in the snow before the wall, lifted his unconscious friend into his arms and started the trek back to the main gates, just as he and many others had been doing every day for the past eight years.

Harry awoke in his room at Grimmauld Place. He put his glasses on, glanced at his clock and sat up in alarm.

'_Eleven o'clock! Oh, no! I can't be late for my own wedding!'_


End file.
